Addison’s disease is a disorder that occurs when your body makes and secretes insufficient amounts of hormones produced by your adrenal glands (two glands that sit on top of your kidneys that are made up of two parts: the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla). In Addison’s disease, your adrenal glands produce too little cortisol and inadequate levels of aldosterone.

Addison’s disease is also called adrenal insufficiency and can occur in every age group and both genders, and it’s estimated to affect between 110-144 in every one million people in developed countries.

The Truth About Adrenal Disorders

There’s a common saying in medicine: “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” It makes sense. After all, the obvious answer or the most common diagnosis will be correct most of the time. That is, if a young, generally healthy person has a mild cough, it makes sense to look for an upper respiratory infection or simple cold and not immediately jump to the possibility of lung cancer. But sometimes it is lung cancer, and that’s why, while the odds are that when you hear hooves it’s a horse, it’s important to remember that every once in a while, it’s a zebra.

What You Need To Know About Adrenal Insufficiency

Adrenal insufficiency is a condition resulting from insufficient hormone production by the adrenal glands, which are located on top of each kidney. Typically, these glands produce three types of hormones (glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, and androgens), and when they fail to do so, the result is adrenal insufficiency. Although it is very difficult to detect and diagnose this condition early, once it is diagnosed, adrenal insufficiency is a highly treatable, yet lifelong, disease that typically does not negatively impact activity level or life expectancy if treated properly.